Google has filed their IPO. Seeking $2.7B, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse First Boston. They will be auctioning shares. Earned $105.6 million on revenue of $961.8 million in the 2003 fiscal year. In the first quarter of 2004, they earned $25.8 million on revenue of $178.9 million. Letter from the founders: Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one. Throughout Google’s evolution as a privately held company, we have managed Google differently. We have also emphasized an atmosphere of creativity and challenge, which has helped us provide unbiased, accurate and free access to information for those who rely on us around the world. Now the time has come for the company to move to public ownership. This change will bring important benefits for our employees [...] and most of all for Google users. But the standard structure of public ownership may jeopardize the independence [of Google]. Therefore, we have designed a corporate structure that will protect Google’s ability to innovate and retain its most distinctive characteristics. [...] Serving our end users is at the heart of what we do and remains our number one priority. [...] If opportunities arise that might cause us to sacrifice short term results but are in the best long term interest of our shareholders, we will take those opportunities. [...] We will not shy away from high-risk, high-reward projects because of short term earnings pressure. [...] we have set up a corporate [dual-class] structure that will make it harder for outside parties to take over or influence Google. [....] Google [] has a responsibility to the world. The dual-class structure helps ensure that this responsibility is met. [...] we will not unnecessarily disclose all of our strengths, strategies and intentions. [...] By releasing services for free, we hope to help bridge the digital divide. [...] Last year we created Google Grants—a growing program in which hundreds of non-profits addressing issues, including the environment, poverty and human rights, receive free advertising. And now, we are in the process of establishing the Google Foundation. We intend to contribute significant resources to the foundation, including employee time and approximately 1% of Google’s equity and profits in some form. We hope someday this institution may eclipse Google itself in terms of overall world impact by ambitiously applying innovation and significant resources to the largest of the world’s problems. SEC filing Google News search Developing......
http://google.blogspace.com/archives/001216